Twist of Fate (GL) - Chapter 29

Qin Ning quickly explained everything that had happened that day from start to finish. Watching the endless stream of tears falling from Xie Jing’s face, her heart ached like it was being pierced by needles.

“Xie Jing, please—just this once, believe me, okay?”

“Okay,” Xie Jing replied, enunciating each word slowly and firmly. “Then… can you promise not to see her again?”

Especially after work hours.

Xie Jing’s nose was red from the cold, and her vision was blurred from crying. Her dilated pupils stared intently at Qin Ning, eyes full of desperate, burning hope.

But Qin Ning suddenly fell silent.

Xie Jing knew her request was unreasonable. With the backing of so many influential families, Qin Ning’s future would only grow brighter. But in that moment, all she wanted was a clear answer—something to tell her that she was the most important person in Qin Ning’s heart. Even if it was a lie, even if Qin Ning just said it to comfort her, that would have been enough.

But Qin Ning said nothing.

“Xie Jing, there’s really nothing going on between us,” Qin Ning said. “If you’re worried, I can let you check my phone, my bank cards, regularly—whatever you want.” She moved to unlock her phone screen—but after several attempts, the screen stayed black.

The battery had long since died.

“Qin Ning.” Xie Jing looked up, eyes red, her brows tightly furrowed as if trying to force back her tears. “Don’t bother.”

“Let’s take a break. Cool off for a while.” She opened the car door, then turned back with a strained smile. “Happy birthday.”

Then she hailed a cab from the roadside and left.

Qin Ning stared at Xie Jing’s receding figure in the rearview mirror. She wanted nothing more than to throw open the door, run to her, pull her back into her arms, pin her against the car and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe—then tell her that she loved her, so much that she would give everything up just to be with her.

But no matter how hard she tried, her legs wouldn’t move. They felt as heavy as lead. All she could do was stand there, helpless, and watch the cab drive away.

“She said we need to cool off.”

“Fine.”

“We both need some space.”

Once her emotions settled, Qin Ning reached into the back seat and pulled out the birthday cake.

The two fondant figurines on top were now ruined beyond recognition, but she could still tell—Xie Jing had made it by hand.
________________________________________

After that day, their relationship hit rock bottom.

Something wasn’t right with Xie Jing ever since she started graduate school. She had lived up north for nearly five years, but she still got nosebleeds often—and sometimes, even spat bl00d while brushing her teeth.

She had lost a lot of weight. Mrs. Xie Ruzhuo had noticed something was wrong during their video calls and had repeatedly urged her to take a leave of absence and come home. But Xie Jing never agreed.

A week later, Mrs. Xie appeared in Jinghai unannounced.

Xie Jing looked even worse in person than on a phone screen. Once radiant and healthy, she now had dark circles under her eyes, reddened eyelids, and her face and lips were pale as paper—her whole appearance utterly worn out.

Without saying a word, Mrs. Xie went ahead and arranged her daughter’s leave of absence. On the day they were set to leave Jinghai, Qin Ning sent a message:

“Can we talk?”

A trace of life finally returned to Xie Jing’s weary expression—but by then, she was already on the plane back to Jiangcheng.

After landing, she couldn’t help but message Qin Ning:

“I’m home. See you in a month.”

Qin Ning replied with just one word:

“Okay.”

During that month, she would focus on putting her company’s operations back on track—and wait for Xie Jing to return.

________________________________________

Back in Jiangcheng, Mr. and Mrs. Xie cleared their schedules to be with her. They planned a road trip to help lift her spirits.

Xie Jing had been gloomy since returning, and Mrs. Xie saw everything. So, this time, she wanted to take her daughter out, hoping a change of scenery might help.

They chose a seaside town as their destination and set off as a family.

Since leaving for college, Xie Jing had never traveled far with her parents again. So, when the three of them stood on the beach together, a rare smile appeared on her face.

Mrs. Xie didn’t ask what had caused Xie Jing’s sudden change. Her only goal during this trip was to make her daughter happy. Whatever Xie Jing wanted to do, she supported it.

Maybe it was the vastness of the sea, or the purity of the waves, but the trip washed away some of the darkness in Xie Jing’s heart. She felt a bit lighter, freer.

In hindsight, she realized how immature she’d been. She had cornered Qin Ning with such an unreasonable demand.

I’ll apologize properly when I get back to Jinghai, she thought.

But on the return trip, as she was thinking about how to say sorry, the car suddenly swerved violently—

BANG—

Her forehead slammed into the back of the front seat, the pain immediate and sharp.

But what hurt more was the sight of her parents, their bodies now soaked in bl00d.

From her angle, she saw a rusted steel bar—thicker than her fingers—piercing through her father’s temple, the bl00d dripping from its tip onto his shoulder. Beside him, her mother’s face was covered in shattered glass and bl00d. She was unconscious.

“Mom—!”

“Dad—!”

Xie Jing’s head spun. She tried to get up to check on them, but before she could move, her body slumped to the floor.

Terrified, with her legs too weak to stand, she crawled forward on her hands and knees. Bloodied from broken glass, she finally confirmed her mother was still breathing—barely.

She snapped back to reality and, with trembling fingers, called emergency services.

Then she was pulled out of the wreck by bystanders, soaked in bl00d.

“She’s still alive!” someone cried as they propped her up against the curb. Others smashed at the car’s windows, trying to save her parents. But the front of the vehicle was too damaged—the doors crushed beyond use. Even breaking the windows didn’t help.

Firefighters, traffic police, paramedics arrived in waves. Xie Jing sat there, dazed, her mind hollow as she stared at the swirl of red and green lights.

Bl00d.

Bl00d was everywhere.

How could a person lose so much bl00d?

Were her parents still alive?

Surely the doctors arrived in time—they could save them, right?

Xie Jing didn’t remember how she got to the hospital. When she regained awareness, she was already lying in a hospital bed.

Her own injuries weren’t too serious—just soft tissue bruising on her legs and knees, and deep cuts on her hands from the shattered glass.

She didn’t seem to feel pain at all. With hands wrapped tightly in gauze, she pushed herself upright.

She shuffled out to the hallway, standing alone at the door for what felt like forever. A doctor doing rounds noticed her and led her to the emergency room.

The surgery light was still red. She stared at the door, and tears began falling again—unstoppable.

It was all her fault.

She had brought this on them.

If she hadn’t come home, they wouldn’t have gone on this trip.

The crash wouldn’t have happened.

Her whole body felt frozen, her legs numb and rigid. She couldn’t move an inch.

Finally, after what felt like a century, the red light went out.

The door opened.

Doctors emerged, their faces grave.

Xie Jing’s expression changed.

THUMP—

“She’s fainted!”

“Someone help!”

“A girl just collapsed—!”

She vaguely heard shouting before everything went black.

When she woke again, it was the next day. Staring at the white hospital ceiling, her thoughts slowly returned.

There had been a car accident yesterday.

Where were her parents?

The moment she asked, memories surged back—her father swerving to avoid a child in the road, crashing into the iron fence. Her mother crushed by the oncoming car, bleeding heavily.

She had survived in the backseat and been taken to the hospital.

Xie Jing rushed out of bed.

She found a few doctors and asked, “The two people from yesterday’s accident—how are they? Did they make it? Are they out of danger?”

No one answered. Their silence said it all.

She saw it in their eyes.

“Please, let me see them.”

They took her to the morgue. Her father’s fatal wound had already been cleaned. Her mother’s once-proud features were marred by deep cuts from the glass.

The moment she saw them, her tears burst forth. She knelt beside her mother, leaned her head gently against her shoulder, and wept in silence.

She never got the chance to say goodbye.

Why did Mom leave so suddenly?

Had she been abandoned?

Losing both parents overnight left Xie Jing broken. She couldn’t tell dream from reality anymore. She wished this was just a nightmare—that she’d wake up to find them still by her side.

But everyone’s silence confirmed: this wasn’t a dream.

Her parents had died in that crash.

And she was all alone.

In a haze, Xie Jing arranged the funeral with her relatives’ help. She didn’t shed another tear—not when they were cremated, not when they were buried. Maybe she had cried them all out at the hospital.

Once everything was over, Xie Jing suddenly fell ill.

Maybe fate just liked to play cruel jokes. Misfortunes never come alone. Before she could even recover from losing her parents, she was struck again—this time with the news that she had leukemia.

Had her first 23 years of life been too smooth? Was this the universe’s way of balancing the scales with cruel punishment?

The blow shattered her completely. She grew silent, withdrawn, sleepless for nights on end.

One morning, she walked alone to the hospital balcony. Below her was a lush garden in full bloom, vibrant with life.

She gripped the railing, pressed her stomach against it, and closed her eyes. The wind brushed gently past her ears.

“Xie Jing?”

Suddenly, a strong force tugged her backward. She stumbled and fell into a warm embrace.

“Xie Jing, don’t do something foolish.”

Shen Xinghe’s voice caught the attention of a few nurses, who quickly helped pull Xie Jing back into the room.

“Xinghe… you… how did you—”